Catheters are widely used for evacuating waste from post-operative wounds, particularly deep wounds. Such deep wounds may be created during spinal or other types of surgery. These wounds need to be drained because waste accumulation inside the wound may result in pain and/or infection. Infections are not uncommon following surgeries, and, when they do occur, are costly to manage and place the patient at greater risk.
In an effort to combat infections, it is typical and normal for surgeons to apply an antibiotic or other medical substance in and around the wound site during final closure of the wound. Antibiotics are applied as a measure taken to help avoid the chance of postoperative infections. Other medical substances, such as, for example, bone marrow concentrates, may also be applied to a wound site to promote healing and regrowth of tissues. While this may be a viable and effective procedure, the antibiotic and/or medical substance will typically disperse and dilute away in a relatively short time, thus limiting its ability to properly control potential post-operative infections for an extended length of time.
Various types of drains have been developed for evacuating fluids from wounds. The suction or collection portion of the drain is placed deep within the wound and left there to drain off the excess fluids that naturally collect after surgery. Depending on the individual patient, the drain will be removed, sometimes only hours later, but can extend to several days post-surgery.
Topical application at the wound site and/or possible intravenous methods of infection control may be used to prevent post-operative infection, but the most effective treatment would be to administer antibiotics directly and deep within the wound site. Thus, it would therefore be beneficial to have a device that would serve the dual purpose of evacuation of fluids, as well providing a time-controlled delivery system for an antibiotic or other medical substance.